“It seems to me that if this was a one-off, a complete one-off, to prevent this extraordinary able young lady from not following her long-held desire to enter the profession she wishes to would be a sentence which would be too severe,” he said.

“What you did will never, I know, leave you, but it was pretty awful, and normally it would attract a custodial sentence, whether it is immediate or suspended,” he added.

Woodward—who lives in Milan, Italy, with her mother—stabbed her then-boyfriend in the leg.

She then threw a laptop, glass and jam jar at him during the attack on September 30, 2016, the court heard.

Woodward’s lawyer James Sturman QC said her plan to become a surgeon was “almost impossible” because she would have to disclose her conviction. Sturman said she had led a troubled life and a previous boyfriend abused her.

The court heard that her college, Christ Church, would allow her to return because she “is that bright.”

Woodward will be sentenced on September 25 and has been ordered to stay drug free and not re-offend.